Arthroscopy: A magic treatment for athletes with shoulder instability

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Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure in which orthopaedic surgeons use arthroscope to visualize, diagnose, and treat problems inside a joint.
Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure in which orthopaedic surgeons use arthroscope to visualize, diagnose, and treat problems inside a joint.

New Delhi : Good news for those who are suffering from shoulder instability. Health experts suggest that young athletes with shoulder instability might get benefit from arthroscopy. It is a surgical procedure in which orthopaedic surgeons use arthroscope to visualize, diagnose, and treat problems inside a joint.

According to researchers at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in San Diego, the outcomes may be improved by proper patient selection and reserving arthroscopic stabilisation for athletes with fewer incidents of pre-operative instability.

Lead author of the study, Frank A. Cordasco, MD, MS and his colleagues from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City presented a series of patients with shoulder instability between the ages of 14 and 20 who were treated with arthroscopic anterior stabilisation performed in the beach chair position by a single surgeon.

The primary results were the rates of revision surgery and return to sport at a minimum follow-up of two years.

“Our study highlights the importance for young athletes with shoulder instability, undergoing a thorough preoperative evaluation to determine the number of instability events and to obtain appropriate advanced imaging when the significant bone loss is suspected,” said Cordasco.

The study describes that when the high-risk young athlete with fewer episodes of pre-operative instability is treated with an arthroscopic stabilisation, the revision surgery rate is low and the return to sports rate is high.

Arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation may offer the best results in this group when it is performed after the first displacement. Additional research needs to be performed to continue to improve the outcomes for this demanding group of young, active high-risk athletes.

A detailed study of the topic including methodology and findings has been presented in the Journal- American Journal of Sports Medicine.